U.S. Judge Removes Trump‑Era Restrictions on Legal Immigration Processing

A U.S. federal judge dismissed a series of restrictions imposed by the former President Donald Trump’s administration on legal immigration after an Afghan immigrant shot two National Guard members in Washington last year.

District Judge John McConnell ruled that the limitations on asylum, work permit, green card and citizenship applications from nationals of 39 African, Asian, Latin American and Middle Eastern countries were unlawful.

The curbs were introduced following the November 26, 2025 shooting in Washington, in which an Afghan man—who had entered the United States after the Taliban takeover of Kabul—killed one of the National Guard soldiers and wounded another.

In a 135‑page decision, McConnell said the policies “threw the lives of countless immigrants living in the United States into indeterminate legal limbo.” He added that the hold on adjudications was “not attributable to anything that these individuals did wrong; rather, it arises solely by the happenstance of their birth.”

“Over six months later, many of those individuals remain without work, without legal status, and without any meaningful ability to plan for their futures,” the judge wrote.

McConnell criticized USCIS for using “pretextual concerns of ‘national security’ that mask anti‑immigrant sentiments.” He reminded the court that “if people wish to immigrate to the United States, they ought to ‘follow the law’ and ‘do things the right way.’” He concluded that the case demonstrates immigrants doing just that.

– ‘Arbitrary and capricious’ –

McConnell, appointed by former President Barack Obama, stated that his role was not to evaluate the wisdom of the government’s policy choices but to determine whether they complied with the law. He found that they did not, describing USCIS’s actions as “contrary to law and arbitrary and capricious.”

Skye Perryman, president and CEO of the advocacy group Democracy Forward, welcomed the ruling. “It reaffirms a basic principle: the federal government cannot shut down lawful immigration pathways or discriminate against people based on where they come from,” Perryman said. “These unlawful policies caused enormous harm to families, workers, asylum seekers, and communities across the country who were left in limbo, unable to work, access protections, or move forward with their lives.”

The Trump administration is expected to appeal the decision.

James Percival, general counsel for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a post that the ruling suggests left‑wing bias. “It is sabotage dressed in legal clothing. It goes like this: (1) the admin is racist, (2) therefore a policy I don’t like is motivated by race, (3) therefore it is invalid,” Percival wrote.

Trump campaigned for the White House on a pledge to deport millions of undocumented migrants and, after the National Guard shooting, announced plans to “permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries.”

Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who was charged with opening fire on the guardsmen just a few blocks from the White House, had been part of a CIA‑backed “partner force” fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan. He entered the United States under a resettlement program following the American military withdrawal in 2021 and is currently awaiting trial after pleading not guilty.

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